Review: Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge at Auckland

The Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge at Auckland International Airport is located airside (after security) past the duty free shops. After security, turn right and follow the signs for “Premium Lounges.” The entrance to the Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge will be on second floor (directly above the Emperor Lounge).

The Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge is open to Star Alliance Gold and Koru Club members, premium cabin passengers flying on Air New Zealand, Star Alliance partner airlines and other airlines such as Aerolineas Argentinas, Aircalin, Air Vanuatu, China Airlines, China Southern, Korean Air, Virgin Australia and Cathay Pacific and anyone willing to pay the daily entrance fee. Basically, everyone and their mothers.

Does anyone else find it odd that Cathay Pacific uses the Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge and not the Qantas Lounge next door?

On this trip, I was flying Air New Zealand business class from Auckland to Shanghai so I had access to the Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge. However, so did everyone else flying that night and I found it a bit too crowded and loud. Needing a quieter place to work, I decided to check out the Emperor Lounge downstairs (using my Priority Pass Select membership card). I stayed there for a bit, got some work done and came back to the Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge after the majority of the flights had cleared out.

The Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge at Auckland International Airport is their flagship lounge. The lounge was spacious but got very crowded at peak times. My readers have commented that the morning hours are very busy and during my visit, Friday night at 8:00 PM, it was very busy and crowded as well.

For a flagship lounge, it was beautiful and well equipped but I found it lacking anything special to separate it from the other Koru Club lounges. There weren’t any outdoor decks, spa treatments, sleep rooms or any other upgraded amenities to showcase this as their hub lounge. But don’t get me wrong, the Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge at Auckland was still very nice. It was just lacking a little something extra.

As you enter the lounge, there are luggage storage closets located to the left of the entrance. The luggage storage closets are large and can fit all of your belongings but they are unsecured and unmonitored by lounge employees. As such, I didn’t see many people using them and just had their belongings by their chairs.

The main seating area is located in the center the lounge. There are a variety of chairs and tables clustered around groups of 2 – 4. The seating area has an open floor plan and does not offer much in terms of privacy.

You can tell this lounge was designed with the leisure traveler in mind, as it was tough for those needing to get some work done to actually get much work done. To the left of the lounge, there are a small bank of individual workstations separated by thin frosted glass, a printer/copier/fax machine and a private cell phone room.

Other than that, those wanting to work on their laptops have to use the large communal tables located in the back of the lounge. The large wooden tables and backless leather stools reminded me of my old university student center. If you need to charge your devices, this is where the majority of electrical power outlets are located. There are few electrical power outlets scattered along the walls of the lounge but they are far and few between. And bring an electrical outlet adaptor as none of the outlets are universal. They all require an adaptor for non-New Zealand/Australia/China devices.

There is a quieter, “cell phone free” area located to the right rear of the lounge and an enclosed children’s play room located in the left rear of the lounge.

The buffet spread was nice and had a selection of hot and cold dishes. The hot dishes included couscous, butter chicken and hot soup and the cold dishes included a salad bar, sushi, sandwiches, fruit and cheeses. There were other snack items such as pastries, bread rolls, mixed nuts and desserts. The self-serve bar station had a good selection of beers, sodas, juices, spirits and tons of New Zealand wines.

There’s a self-serve coffee/cappucino machine but if you fancy a special brew, there’s a coffee bar where the barista can whip you up anything from a standard coffee pour to a pumpkin spice latte.

Password protected Wifi was provided complimentary throughout the lounge. Other lounge amenities included shower suites, local and international newspapers and magazines. Gate and boarding announcements were made and there were plenty of flight information boards displayed around the lounge as well.

Other than it being very crowded, the only other minor complaint I had was the lack of views of the runway or boarding gates. There were windows to let natural light in but they were only views of other buildings.

Overall, the Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge at Auckland was a very nice lounge but was so crowded that it became unusable. It was hard to find a seat to relax and enjoy the lounge and it was even harder to find a seat near an electrical outlet to get any work done.

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About James Dozer